System and method for communicating with an optimal wireless communications carrier

• US 8,099,125 B2
• Filed: 05/15/2007
• Issued: 01/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 05/15/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CenturyLink Intellectual Property LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Embarq Holdings Company LLC (Lumen Technologies, Inc.)
• Inventors: Morrill, Robert J., Gamel, Bennett P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Gary, Erika
• Application Number:
  US11/803,881
• Publication Number:
  US 20080286400A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,708 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 455/550.1
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/16 Discovering, processing access restriction or access information
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 48/18 Selecting a network or a communication service

Abstract

Improvement of wireless communications of a wireless device may include storing a preferred roaming list containing information associated with communications carriers arranged in a predetermined order. It may be determined that a signal strength of a first communications signal of a first communications carrier currently being received by a wireless device drops below a signal strength threshold value. A second communications carrier in the preferred roaming list having a second communications signal with a higher signal strength than the signal strength of the first communications signal may be selected. A time interval over which to receive the second communications signal from the second communications carrier may be initiated and a switch may occur from receiving the second communications signal from the second communications carrier to receiving a third communications signal from a communications carrier in the preferred roaming list in response to completion of the time interval.

Claims

1. A wireless device, comprising:

a transceiver configured to transmit and receive communications signals;

a processor in communication with said transceiver;

a memory in communication with said processor and configured to store a preferred roaming list containing information associated with communications carriers arranged in a predetermined order and a signal strength threshold value indicative of a communications signal being a marginal communications signal by the communications signal being received by said transceiver having a signal strength value below the signal strength threshold value, the marginal communications signal being defined by a quality of service level degrading beyond a threshold level; and

a plurality of software modules executed by said processor, including;

a signal strength measurement module configured to measure signal strength of a communications signal received by said transceiver; and

a signal search module configured to;

in response to a manual user request, determine whether the signal strength of a first communications signal of a first communications carrier currently being received by said transceiver is a marginal communications signal;

in response to determining that the first communications signal is a marginal communications signal, select a second communications carrier in the preferred roaming list positioned in a first direction from the position in the preferred roaming list of the first communications carrier having a second communications signal with a higher signal strength than the signal strength of the first communications signal; and

in further response to determining that the first communications signal is a marginal communications signal, switch said transceiver from receiving the first communications signal to receive the second communications signal from the second communications carrier in response to determining that the first communications signal is a marginal communications signal.

2. The wireless device according to claim 1, further comprising a timer module configured to define a time interval that specifies how often a signal search module executes, and wherein said signal search module is further configured to:

cause said timer module to initiate a time interval between which said transceiver receives the second communications signal from the second communications carrier; and

switch said transceiver from receiving the second communications signal from the second communications carrier to receiving the first communications signal from the first communications in response to completion of the time interval.

3. The wireless device according to claim 2, wherein said signal search module is further configured to store information associated with the first communications carrier to enable switching from receiving the second communications signal back to the first communications carrier in response to completion of the time interval.

4. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein said processor is configured to download and execute said signal search module.

5. The wireless device according to claim 1, further comprising a registration module for registering the wireless device with the different communications carriers.

6. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein the wireless device is a mobile handset.

7. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein said signal search module is further configured to automatically cause said transceiver to receive the second communications signal from the second communications carrier.

8. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein said software modules further includes a quality of service user activation module configured to determine that a user manually enters a quality of service request and notifies said signal search module to determine if another communications carrier has higher signal strength.

9. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein said signal search module is further configured to operate while said processor is not handling a communication session by a user.

10. The wireless device according to claim 1, wherein said signal search modules is further configured to notify a user of the wireless device that a higher signal strength of a communications signal from a different communications carrier is available.

11. The wireless device according to claim 10, wherein said software modules further include an automatic callback module to reconnect to a network address automatically in response to (i) a disconnection by the user in response to a notification that a communications signal having higher signal strength is available or (ii) a drop call occurs.

12. A method for improving wireless communications for a user of a wireless device, said method comprising:

storing a preferred roaming list containing information associated with communications carriers arranged in a predetermined order;

storing a signal strength threshold value indicative of a communications signal being a marginal communications signal by a communications signal being received having a signal strength value below the signal strength threshold value;

in response to a manual user request, determine whether signal strength of a first communications signal of a first communications carrier currently being received by a wireless device is a marginal communications signal;

in response to determining that the first communications signal is a marginal communications signal, selecting a second communications carrier in the preferred roaming list positioned in a first direction from the position in the preferred roaming list of the first communications carrier having a second communications signal with a higher signal strength than the signal strength of the first communications signal; and

in further response to determining that the first communications signal is a marginal communications signal, switching from receiving the first communications signal to receiving the second communications signal from the second communications carrier in response to determining that the first communications signal is a marginal communications signal.

13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising:

initiating a time interval over which to receive the second communications signal from the second communications carrier; and

switching from receiving the second communications signal from the second communications carrier to receiving the first communications signal from the first communications carrier in response to completion of the time interval.

14. The method according to claim 13, further comprising:

storing information associated with the first communications carrier; and

looking up the stored information associated with the first communications carrier in response to completion of the time interval; and

switching from receiving the second communications signal back to the first communications carrier by using the looked-up stored information associated with the first communications carrier.

15. The method according to claim 12, further comprising downloading and executing a software module to perform communications signal searching to locate a higher communications signal associated with a communications carrier listed on the preferred roaming list.

16. The method according to claim 12, further comprising registering the wireless device with a different communications carrier prior in establishing communications with the communications carrier.

17. The method according to claim 12, wherein storing the preferred roaming list is performed in a mobile handset.

18. The method according to claim 12, further comprising:

determining that a quality of service request has been manually activated; and

determining if another communications carrier has a higher signal strength in response to determining that a quality of service request has been manually activated.

19. The method according to claim 12, wherein determining, selecting, receiving, initiating, and switching are performed while not performing user communications.

20. The method according to claim 12, further comprising notifying a user of the wireless device that a higher signal strength of a communications signal from a different communications carrier is available.

21. The method according to claim 20, wherein further comprising:

determining that a user disconnects from the first communications signal in response to a notification of a higher signal strength of a communications signal from a different communications carrier or that a drop call occurred; and

performing an automatic callback to reconnect to a network address in response to determining that the user disconnected from the first communications signal or that a drop call occurred.